On the 26th of December Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued an ultimatum to Ukraine, which includes giving all currently occupied territories to the aggressor, writes Reuters.
On December 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an offer for negotiations, including transferring almost a fifth of Ukraine’s territory to the occupiers. Still, Kyiv and the Western countries rejected the offer. The Russian army continues to shell Ukrainian settlements heavily. Kyiv says it plans to fight until Russia leaves its territory.
Lavrov told the Russian media TASS on the evening of the 26th of December that Ukraine is perfectly aware of Russia’s demands. He said:
«The point is simple: Fulfil them for your own good. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army.»
On the 26th of December, Moscow announced that it had shot down a drone, most likely Ukrainian, at Engels Air Force Base. Three Russian soldiers have died. Ukraine did not comment on the incident. The incident happened before at the Engels military airfield on the 5th of December. While Ukraine has reported on social networks that several planes have been destroyed, the Russian Ministry of Defense has stated that the equipment was not damaged.
For months, Russian forces have been engaged in fierce fighting in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, where they allegedly defend territories that Moscow declared part of Russia after an unrecognized referendum in September. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation along the front line is difficult and painful: «Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in Donbas … require a maximum of strength and concentration.
The occupiers are deploying all resources available to them – and these are considerable resources – to make some sort of advance.»
The president also added that Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure have left almost nine million people without electricity.
On the 26th of December Putin gathered the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States group member states for a summit in Moscow. Although Putin did not directly refer to the war in the televised excerpts from the summit, he said that security threats in Eurasia are increasing, especially from outside. «We also have to acknowledge unfortunately that disagreements also arise between member states of the commonwealth,» Putin said.
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